Politics & Government
Elections, wars, spending, and the people in charge.
1 hr 14 minEp. 47 · September 17, 2026
AI Doomerism is a Psyop We’re Falling For
Everyone's terrified of AI, and the people ringing the loudest alarms happen to be the ones building it. XO asks whether AI doomerism is a psyop, from Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon teaming up against the "tech oligarchs" to calls to slow down from labs that keep shipping new models, plus China, data centers, and bailout talk.
53 minEp. 46 · September 10, 2026
Mamdani’s 9/11 Files & Parents Gone Wild
XO is back from a break with a voice wrecked by what may or may not be New York air. NYC Mayor Mamdani's "9/11 files" on post-attack air quality come with a pricey new public portal, and XO smells a nothing burger. Then: parents gone wild, from the Lindsay Clancy case to a mom charged for letting her kid walk to town alone.
46 minEp. 45 · July 16, 2026
Bison Attack, Flock Cameras, & Back at War with Iran
A 65-year-old grandpa got tossed by a bison at Yellowstone, and XO takes it as a reminder that nature is not a Pixar movie. Then: Flock cameras turning every petty theft into a surveillance case, the long shadow of the Patriot Act, and the U.S. somehow back at war with Iran.
1 hr 2 minEp. 43 · June 25, 2026
Nancy Guthrie's Death & The Reflecting Pool
Savannah Guthrie's mother was taken and held for ransom, and XO asks what it says about where the country is headed. Then Trump's $14 million Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool makeover turns into algae and peeling blue paint, and XO wants a second quote.
1 hr 18 minEp. 42 · June 18, 2026
Peace with Iran, Karmelo Anthony, & The First Trillionaire
The U.S. and Iran finally have a deal, and XO is team peace while Israel is very much not. Plus the Karmelo Anthony case, the GoFundMe money that followed it, the race to the world's first trillionaire, and why life feels worse than it used to.
40 minEp. 41 · May 16, 2026
Chinese Spy Was a Mayor in California
Arcadia, California mayor Eileen Wang resigned after admitting she acted as an agent of China, and XO rushes to her defense: she's an agent, not a spy, and there's a difference. A fully deadpan defense of bridging the gap, encrypted WeChat orders, and the American dream.
57 minEp. 38 · May 1, 2026
UK Tobacco Ban & Chinese Sprinting Robots
XO doesn't usually care about the UK, but the UK keeps making that hard. The British tobacco ban, censorship, and arrests over social media posts, then China's sprinting robot "Lightning" running miles faster than any human, and why that's terrifying.
58 minEp. 37 · April 29, 2026
Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting & Cole Allen’s Manifesto
Two years left in the term and we're already on assassination attempt number three. XO breaks down the gunfire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the conspiracy theories that followed, and the manifesto from the man charged, Cole Allen, which came complete with rebuttals to objections, like a thesis, and a sign-off telling everyone to stay in school.
34 minEp. 36 · April 23, 2026
Katy Perry, Kash Patel, & California Bear Fraud
For once the allegations are about a pop star who isn't a man. XO plays crisis PR manager for Katy Perry as Ruby Rose resurfaces misconduct claims Perry denies, then asks what happened to Kash Patel and the files, and closes with the California man who filed an insurance claim using a bear costume.
1 hr 9 minEp. 34 · April 17, 2026
Trump Jesus, Molotov Attack, & Claude Mythos
Have you said your prayers to Trump Jesus? XO preaches the gospel of the president's messianic AI image, then covers the Molotov attack on Sam Altman's home and the threats against OpenAI, and the Claude Mythos saga: real AI danger, or the best PR campaign in tech?
54 minEp. 33 · April 14, 2026
The Sailing Hookers, Pope Says Nope, & Auto-Draft
Lynette Hooker, of the Sailing Hookers, went missing off the Bahamas, and her husband's account has XO raising an eyebrow. Then the Pope says nope to the war, and XO looks at the new auto-draft: Selective Service signing young Americans up automatically using DMV and IRS records.
45 minEp. 29 · March 5, 2026
Where are the f***ing aliens?
Where is everybody? XO takes on the Fermi paradox after Obama casually talks aliens on a podcast and Trump accuses him of leaking classified info. Ancient gods, objects that move from air to water, alien-gift technology theories, and a simple request for the government: just tell us.
1 hr 6 minEp. 26 · February 13, 2026
Who cares about the Epstein Files?
Who cares about the Epstein files? Everyone should. XO starts in full gaslight mode, then drops it to ask why releasing everything wasn't an easy layup for leaders who promised to drain the swamp, and what it means if the people protecting predators make the rules.
1 hr 1 minEp. 8 · June 16, 2025
Does tap water make you stupid?
What if they've been lowering our IQ through the tap water? XO digs into fluoride: why it ended up in the water, the studies linking it to lower IQ, what "mildly intellectually disabled" actually means in points, and a tongue-in-cheek 500-year plan to make everyone easier to herd.
1 hr 7 minEp. 4 · May 19, 2025
Should we be teaching this to kids?
Society isn't collapsing all at once. It's a slow collapse we're watching with a smile. XO breaks down Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Supreme Court case over parents opting their kids out of LGBTQ-themed school books, with detours into gym class, the DARE program, and what teachers should leave to parents.
1 hr 8 minEp. 2 · May 5, 2025
Are we all being controlled?
Since the beginning of mankind, a select few have run everyone else. But that's completely hypothetical, please don't take it seriously. XO's deadpan look at control: the war on drugs, why psychedelics and weed were made illegal, the abortion debate, religious loopholes, and the herd that lets it all happen.